The Cipriani family will shutter the fabled Rainbow Room on January 12, about five months after a Times article chronicled the restaurant's perseverance. Though the restaurant opened in 1934 amid the Great Depression, it could not weather this latest fiscal crisis and a projected 100 percent rent increase to $8.7 million. The space will now serve as simply a bar and banquet hall. Though real New Yorkers haven't set foot in the Rainbow Room's mirrored halls for a couple of decades, tourists love to spend their dollars there for an ersatz New York experience. Visitors can shift their attentions to other iconic New York restaurants like Gallagher's Steakhouse, Tavern on the Green, and Sardi's.

Rainbow Room to Close Grill [AP via MSNBC]
Earlier: The Rainbow Room Still Has It, Whatever 'It' Is